Tuesday, August 16, 2005

The Rule

This is Cathy writing, not Alison, despite what the author tag says.
Julie from Portland, OR, kindly emailed us to let us know that lefty blogs like Pandagon have been discussing the Mo Movie Measure a film-going concept that originated in an early DTWOF strip, circa 1985. We were excited to hear that someone still remembers this 20-year-old chestnut.
But alas, the principle is misnamed. It appears in "The Rule," a strip found on page 22 of the original DTWOF collection. Mo actually doesn't appear in DTWOF until two years later. Her first strip can be found half-way through More DTWOF. Alison would also like to add that she can't claim credit for the actual "rule." She stole it from a friend, Liz Wallace, whose name is on the marquee in the comic strip, reprinted below.

I've heard this one before, but haven't had the discipline to follow it. Inga Musico refers to this rule in Cunt too (though this may be where she got it from). I've seen some variations which are saying that the female characters in question must have names - that makes it even more difficult.

I've used this rule since reading it. I have two kids now, and it's even harder to find kids movies that meet the test than to find qualifying big person movies. However, it's suprising that sometimes a movie that has all the frou-frou of an anti-feminist movie actually ends up meeting the test in spades (and being loved by my 5 year old daughter). If you watch movies without having heard this rule, you would be perpetually confused I think. j

I just got here via Alas, a blog. They are talking about Serenity - and this rule in particular (as well as many other interesting things). So then I came here - and here's this post! In other news, I [heart] DTWOF and have exchanged various favorites with my sisters for years. So HI! *wave*

Actually, though Serenity is often cited as a movie with strong female characters, I'm not sure it passes the MMM. Unlike the TV series, I can't think of a scene in the movie that featured the women talking to each other.

There's no banter at the dinner table. There's no Kaylee and River playing jacks. Zoe never talks to River or Kaylee. Oh, wait - River talks back to her nameless teacher. :-(

As to Anonymous who asked How do you apply the rule if you haven't already seen the movie?

Good question. Do the reviews mention more than one female character? Do the credits show more than one woman? Does more than one woman get listed on the poster? Does the trailer show more than one woman?

Sostenuto, I think so. Several of the Bride's antagonists talk about killing her, which I'm sure counts. That there are a couple of conversations about children (the first antagonist's child returning home from school, the Bride's pregnancy test) shouldn't count against it; the rule isn't exclusionary, I think.

I guess lots of chick flicks count. How LONG do they have to talk about something besides a man? Stuff like In Her Shoes would pass (I saw it on a plane, ok?!) All the other things I can think of that pass, the two women are talking about Family. Oh wait, Calamity Jane passes - Doris' Calamity and the other woman talk about Housework! Hoorah!

A friend of mine was recently bemoaning the fact that this test, or even the weaker "It has to have a woman in it who is actually a woman, and couldn't be played by a man, robot, or other sentient" cuts out a lot of cyberpunk.

Just seeing this post now, as I searched for the source of "The Rule". This is also absolutely effective in the realm of comic book writing!

Why is it we haven't seen powerful characters like STORM talking about not just her experience as a woman, but as a MUTANT woman of color living in the United States. Instead it's all "oooooh Forge!" or "oooooh Black Panther!".

Too many men writing comic books. Not enough strong women portrayed. Alison, how can we fix this?!

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